The Transfer Tavern

Aston Villa must make an ambitious move for this £10.8m-rated star if they get promoted

Aston Villa supporters have been making a lot of noise in the Transfer Tavern this week after seeing their side sustain their Championship promotion challenge with an easy 3-0 success over struggling Sunderland on Tuesday night.

Steve Bruce’s men went into their clash in the North East off the back of beating Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 in their preceding league encounter, a result which kept them in third place in the Championship table. And that is where the Villans remain after a routine victory at the Stadium of Light earlier this week, with goals from Lewis Grabban and James Chester, as well as an own goal from Bryan Oviedo, clinching all three points for Bruce’s side, leaving Sunderland firmly rooted to the bottom of the division.

Subsequently, there have been many delighted Villa fans in the Tavern in recent times, several of whom are hoping their side can make it three wins on the spin when they host Championship leaders Wolves at Villa Park on Saturday.

In the meantime though, there has been much for our resident Villans supporters to get their teeth into, not least recent reports suggesting that Manchester United want £6.5 million for goalkeeper Sam Johnstone this summer.

And were the Villans unable to get a deal done for the Englishman, they should instead turn their attentions to making an ambitious move for Liverpool outcast Simon Mignolet.

Ultimately, while the Belgium international has been criticised often throughout his time at Anfield, the 30-year-old is vastly experienced in the Premier League, having appeared 245 times for both Sunderland and indeed Liverpool over the years.

And with 81 clean sheets in that time, as well as just 311 goals shipped, the numbers make for pretty good reading for the Reds shot-stopper, even if he has recently been demoted to the substitute’s bench in favour of Loris Karius.

Yet there’s little doubting, given how impressive he was for the Black Cats between 2010 and 2013, that the Belgian star can do a job for a team nearer the lower end of the Premier League, which is where Villa are likely to be if they win promotion this term – after all, he kept 33 clean sheets in a Sunderland side who were regularly scraping near the bottom of the division.

And with much Premier League experience under his belt, luring him to Villa Park would add to the vast amount of experience already in this Villa side, experience Bruce has relied upon so far this season in a bid to get them back to the promised land.

And while Johnstone has been excellent for the Villans this term, it doesn’t look as though United are going to let him go easily, whereas Karius’ status as number one at Anfield could mean that Mignolet is available come the summer.

As such, Bruce’s side simply must seek to make an ambitious move for the £10.8 million-rated star (as per Transfermarkt) if they get promoted to the Premier League.